


Private Waters

by StrongerWithThePack



Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Family, Hurt/Comfort, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:29:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26681431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrongerWithThePack/pseuds/StrongerWithThePack
Summary: Virgil's birthday celebrations are interrupted by an unidentified boat sailing into their waters.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	Private Waters

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted in parts on my tumblr for Virgil's birthday, hope you enjoy. This is set pre-series, probably the birthday before the one we see in season 1.

"Happy Birthday!"

Virgil was ambushed by his family jumping out from behind various pieces of furniture as he entered the lounge. He knew they'd been planning this but he put on a face of surprise anyway. No point being a spoil sport.

Alan bounded up to give him a hug with an ear splitting grin. The kids' energy was contagious as he accepted the tackle-like hug and chucked.

"Thanks guys."

There was a round of hugs to follow and Virgil felt a deep appreciation that he had this time to spend with his family. Even John was down. He gave his space-bound brother an extra tight hug. It had been a while.

Birthdays were a tricky affair in their family. They always planned a celebration but rescues commonly got in the way. He was lucky things had been quiet today.

He looked around finally noticing an absence and gave Scott a questioning look.

"Kayo?"

"Got called away by Pen this morning. She'll be back later though." Scott assured.

Virgil felt a hint of disappointment that she wasn't here but that's the job. He'd make sure to see her later.

His Grandma came up and kissed his cheek. "Happy Birthday Virgil."

She slid out a thin parcel from behind her back and whispered by his ear. "For my favourite grandson."

Although her version of whispering wasn't exactly quiet.

Gordon exclaimed loudly. "Hey! We heard that!" While Scott laughed and John rolled his eyes.

They knew their grandma loved them all equally but it wasn't exactly a secret she had a soft spot for Virgil.

Gordon plonked a party hat on his head as they sat down. Not exactly gently, he might add, as he felt the sting of the string pinging up under his chin. He glared at his brother but Gordon merely put on an innocent look, commenting "oops".

They actually got a full morning of present opening and silly party games that Alan had planned. Majority of them may be grown men but they weren't above indulging in some childhood traditions.

Virgil noticed John quietly excuse himself during a game of charades, and mentally sighed as he figured their festivities were about to come to an end. He could see Scott kept glancing the way John had gone too and knew his eldest brother was thinking the same thing. A rescue.

"Are we launching John?" Scott asked immediately when their brother returned.

John rolled his eyes at the assumption and explained. "No, it's not a rescue. EOS was just informing me that there's a boat that's crossed into our waters."

It wasn't much of a concern. The island is pretty much in the middle of nowhere but some boats occasionally stray into their waters. Usually, it's party boats that don't bother to research the areas they're sailing into.

Scott nodded, making to turn back to their game. Standard protocol was to radio the boat and inform them that they were in private waters and needed to turn around. John usually deals with it.

"Except there is a problem." John continued. "The boat doesn't seem to have a radio. It could be broken but EOS couldn't get through."

"Is there a chance of it being a threat?" Scott asked slightly tense now.

"Not likely. EOS identified it as a rental luxury yacht that's registered under an Australian family. Probably just lost but they are on a colliding path with the island so we'll need to turn them around."

Gordon sighed dramatically and stood up.

"I got it." He said and headed towards the door that led to the docks. "Don't have too much fun without me."

Virgil felt a pang of unease. "Uh wait up! I'll come too."

"It's fine Virgil, enjoy the festivities." Gordon tried to brush him off.

"I need some air anyway. A quick boat trip sounds fun."

"Awesome!" Gordon exclaimed. He loved it when any of them agreed to go out on the water with him.

Scott gave him a look as they left that clearly said _be careful_. He wanted to roll his eyes but he'd just had the same thought when Gordon was going to go alone so he couldn't say much.

They went out in their normal clothes since the whole point of keeping people away was to ensure the secrecy of international rescue. Bit of a give away to rock up in full uniform.

They took one of the speed boats and Gordon expertly manoeuvred them towards the boat in question.

It was a beautiful day. The light from the sun danced across the water as the boat skipped over the waves. He took a deep breath of fresh sea air as the wind breezed around them.

He should really come out here more often. Maybe he could convince Gordon to take him out scuba diving later this week. It had been a while since he'd done that.

It didn't take long before Virgil caught a visual of the offending boat in the distance. He looked back at the island, he could see the outline from here but there wasn't any detail. Good.

Gordon brought them to a controlled stop as the came up beside the vessel. Their boat was quite a bit smaller than the decently sized yacht but they could still see onto the deck. There were two men decked out in classic touristy clothes.

Gordon cut their engine and took the lead calling out.

"Hey there, how're you doing today?"

Up close it was hard to miss the beer bottles scattered around the deck. Virgil groaned internally. Did people not realise how dangerous sailing out in open water was? Adding alcohol into the mix was just asking for trouble.

He wasn't opposed to a couple of beers in the sun but by the way the men grinning and the fact they were practically wobbling to keep their feet under them on the mildly choppy waters he was pretty sure it was more than just a couple.

"Heyyy!" One of the men drawled in what Virgil placed as an English accent. "Just enjoying some fun in the sun."

Gordon, clearly as annoyed at the state these men were in as himself smiled loosely.

"Well I'm afraid you've strayed into private waters. You're going to need to turn around. Do you need any help with your route?"

"Duuude, I didn't know you could own water. That's awesome." The guy turned to his friend. "We should buy some water."

The other guy laughed. "You're wasted man."

These guys clearly weren't taking them very seriously. Gordon tried again.

"Listen guys, I'm glad you're having a good trip but it's illegal for you to be sailing here. Can I see your operating permit?"

Gordon's words seemed to finally snap them out of their stupor.

"Wow there man, we don't want any trouble. I'll get Davie, he's el captaino on this little boat of ours."

The guy chuckled at his words before heading below deck.

Virgil was relieved that neither of these men were in charge here. He only hoped the other guy wasn't as drunk as these two.

A new man appeared on the deck and Virgil took keen notice that he seemed stable on his feet.

"Gentleman, what can I help you with?" He greeted sincerely enough.

"Afternoon Sir, are you the permit holder of this boat?" Gordon inquired politely.

At the mans affirmative he continued. "Are you aware you're sailing in private waters right now?"

"My apologies, I wasn't aware. We'll change course right away."

The man said it like a dismissal but Gordon didn't take the hint. Most likely on purpose, there was definitely a lot of red flags here.

"Do you need any help plotting a route? I can show you the common tourist lanes if you'd like."

"Nah we're good thanks, the rental company plotted a route for us - must've just headed off course slightly. Good'day gentleman."

Virgil jumped in this time before they could make their exit.

"One more thing. We noticed you don't seem to have a radio. You really shouldn't be travelling in open waters without one."

The man gave a forced smile. "Oh yeah, it's busted. We'll be sure to get it fixes at the next port."

"Want me to take a look at it for you? I'm an engineer." He offered.

"No. I said we're fine."

Gordon narrowed his eyes beside him. "Look I'm not trying to be rude but could I see your permit? Just at a glance you're breaking a lot of regulations here."

A flash of rage passed over the mans face at Gordon's accusation and Virgil reckoned his brother was probably on the right track. He sighed. So much for a quick trip.

Before anything further could be said though there was a loud splash from the back of the boat.

"Roy!"

They both startled at the noise. Turning to see only one of the drunk men from before standing on the deck and a foamy patch of water next to the edge of the boat. It didn't take a genius to work out what had happened.

Gordon kicked off his shoes, diving into the water in seconds. Virgil leaned over the edge of their boat, ready to help once Gordon surfaced.

He had no doubt his brother would get the man. It's what they did after all.

"Oi!" He heard the captain shout.

He just barely spared him a glance, too focused on the water. But then he had to do a double take as he found himself staring down the barrel of a gun.

He slowly stood up with his arms raised above him. This was not good.

The other man on the deck placed a wide plank between their boats.

"Cross over." He was instructed.

His eyes had been fixed to the man with the gun unwilling to look away but he hesitated then. Sparing a glance towards the water he desperately looked for his brother.

Gordon had surfaced and was staring back at him with a grim look. He bobbed next to the other man from the boat and Virgil caught a glimpse of something reflective in the guys hand. A knife.

He could now see the way Gordon was gripping his upper arm with a grimace. There must've been a struggle. He clenched his fists at their helplessness here.

The unexpected bang of the gun going off made him flinch as splinters of wood hit off his legs. The man had just shot into the deck at his feet.

"Across. Now." He screamed and Virgil didn't need to be told again.

He wobbled his way across on the unstable plank. Once he was within reach the man, who had clearly shed his clueless drunk persona, roughly yanked him the rest of the way. He lost his footing on the deck and fell forward.

The guy behind him took that opportunity to push him onto his stomach, pressing a knee into the centre of his back and pulling his hands behind him. He felt zip ties being tightly fastened over his wrists as he twisted his head to the side, noticing the guy with the gun throwing a rope ladder over the side of the boat.

"And you." He shouted over the side of the boat. To Gordon presumably. "No funny business or your brother here's gonna get a hole in em."

He pointed the gun towards Virgil to emphasise his point. The fact that this man knew they were brothers was not a good sign. He was starting to think something bigger than they'd thought was going on here.

Virgil gritted his teeth as the man holding him down shoved his head into the deck before getting off him and moving to the ladder.

He slowly moved to a sitting position, grimacing as the ties cut into his wrists. He was up just in time to see Gordon heave himself over the edge of the deck with a grim look on his face.

His brother had barely gotten his feet under him before he was roughly tackled to the ground in the same way Virgil had been.

"Hey!" Virgil grunted out of reflex at seeing his brother crash onto the deck but he was promptly ignored.

Gordon turned his head to him as his wrists were tied the same as Virgil's and gave him a grimace that said I'm okay but this is not a good situation.

Virgil gave a barely noticeable nod back to confirm he was okay too. Gordon lay dripping water onto the deck and Virgil noticed the cut on his arm he'd suspected earlier.

The red mixed in with the water and seeped onto the deck below him. Virgil hoped it wasn't deep, the water probably made it look like it was bleeding more than it was.

Once the ties were secure, Gordon was yanked up by his shirt collar and pushed down again next to Virgil, leaning against the side of the boat.

The three men regrouped across the deck and began whispering loudly to each other.

"Scott is going to kill us." Gordon mumbled as he shifted into a more comfortable position.

Virgil couldn't help but chuckle at his brothers attempt to lighten the mood.

"I think that's the least of our worries right now. You okay?" He asked, eyeing the cut on his arm.

"Yeah s'just a scratch."

That did not appease his worry in any way. Gordon wasn't one to admit to being in pain. But he let it slide for now.

They needed to work out why these men were here and what they were after. He internally sighed at the trouble they'd managed to get themselves in.

What a way to spend his birthday.

It wasn't long before the men seemed to agree on a plan and the boat veered towards Tracy Island once more. The captain went to steer the boating passing his gun to the other dry man.

The guy who'd jumped into the water went below deck, while the other man levelled the gun at them.

"Right. You two just sit still and nothing bad'll happen alright?"

Virgil didn't want to push their luck. These guys had already shown they didn't have any qualms about actually using that gun.

He broached carefully. "What are you doing here?"

"None of your business."

Virgil pursed his lips and continued trying to word it carefully. "Well if you tell me maybe we could come to some sort of understanding."

The guy scowled, gesturing violently with the gun. "Hey! None of your International Rescue mind tricks okay. We know who you are."

Virgil noticed Gordon's jaw tightening beside him. How had these guys found them? They didn't exactly strike him as the organised crime type.

Virgil had long since sent out an emergency signal to the island. Direct communication was too risky but they would at least know something was wrong. The fact that these guys hadn't known to take away their watches told him this wasn't planned.

It also wasn't ideal that Kayo was off the island but he wasn't worried. She had made sure the island was extremely well protected. They had a lot of defences in place for this kind of scenario.

And just to back up his claims it was that moment the boats engine cut out along with the built-in floor lighting. An EMP. Any unauthorised boats crossing the 1 mile perimeter around Tracy island were automatically hit with a precise EMP.

Most boats would never get this far in unless their intents were malicious. It was a good way to buy themselves a bit more time.

"What was that?" The guy with the gun snarled.

Virgil shrugged noncommittally. "Looks like your battery's died."

The Captain - Davie apparently - rounded on them then.

"Nice try boys, I know an EMP when I see one"

He waved his dead phone in front of them for emphasis.

"How long will it last?"

Both brothers remained silent. The captain grabbed the gun from the other man and promptly pistol whipped Virgil across the face.

Virgil saw it coming and rolled with the hit, landing roughly on his side and wincing at the sharp pain in his cheekbone. He heard Gordon shout in anger and hoped his brother wasn't about to do anything stupid.

He awkwardly pushed himself up with hands still tied behind his back. The guy cocked his gun at Gordon, who's face was furious.

"I asked you a question." The man seethed, looking at Virgil.

With the gun still pointed at Gordon, he didn't really have much of a choice.

"At least an hour." Virgil gritted out. "Assuming the electrics weren't damaged by the blast that is."

"Dammit." The guy cursed, kicking out at one of the crates littering the deck.

These guys had no clue what they were doing and Virgil didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Hey, Roy! Get your butt up here!"

The man who'd 'fallen' in the water clambered up from below deck, now clad in dry clothes.

"You're heading out on the dingy. Get those photos and then get back. In and out."

The guys eyes widened. "But...what if they get me?"

The boss huffed. " Take this one with you." He pointed at Virgil. "That should dissuade the family from interfering."

The guy still didn't look happy but he begrudgingly agreed. Virgil exchanged a worried glance with Gordon about being separated. There wasn't anything they could do though as he was pulled to his feet. The guy held his hand out to the captain for the gun.

"You ain't getting the gun moron."

"What? What if he tries something?"

"If he tries anything" the captain got in his face, directing his statement towards him now. "If you make things difficult or don't come back, you ain't getting your brother back. Understand?"

Virgil nodded tensely, sparing a glance towards Gordon who was still sat against the boat in his soaking wet jeans and shirt. "I understand."

And he did. There was no way he was going to risk trying anything. He fully believed their threats. He just hoped his family would read the situation that way as well.

Getting onto the rubber dingy was no easy feat with his hands still tied tightly behind his back. He very nearly went headfirst into the water.

Even after he was seated it was nerve wracking having his hands tied while on the water. He was a good swimmer but he knew he'd struggle without his arms.

The guy he was on the boat with was rowing fiercely, his eyes trained on Virgil with a deep look of distrust. Virgil eyed the knife that was strapped tightly to his belt, the guy couldn't use it while he was rowing but he kept seeing his fingers twitching towards it.

"I'm really not going to try anything you know." Virgil tried to reassure. The last thing he needed was for this guy to panic and do something stupid.

The guy just scoffed. "Sure."

"I'm serious. All I want is to get back to the boat and to my brother."

The guy eyed him before grunting in agreement. "As long as you do what your told nothings gonna happen okay? The boss'll let you go once we've got our pictures."

Virgil studied the large camera the guy had around his neck. He'd dabbled a bit in photography in the past, it was a good camera.

"What do you need photos for?"

Virgil wasn't really expecting an answer. He figured it wasn't for anything good but the guy just shrugged.

"This guy has put out a $100,000 reward for anyone who can get a location and photos of the International Rescue island. We just want the money."

Virgil pondered that thought. So there was something bigger going on here. An enemy with that kind of money was never something good.

"How'd you find us?"

"Just luck really. We've been sailing around the Pacific for weeks, checking out any islands we come across." The guy stopped rowing as he apparently deemed himself close enough to the island now. "When you folks came out to meet us we knew we must've had the right one."

He took the camera and started snapping pictures. They were facing the main house and Virgil could see a good amount of detail. He knew the zoom on that camera would capture everything. Those pictures were going to be a major security risk.

It wasn't his priority though. Once he and Gordon were safe, Kayo would get the photos back. These guys were in way over their heads.

His eye caught a flash in the distance and recognised it as mirror signal. It looked like his brothers were trying to signal him and he was worried again that they were about to try something.

He was going to have to take a risk here. "Hey, look I'm not going to try anything but I'm a bit worried my brothers will. If you let me contact them I'll make sure they stay away."

That made the guy tense up again. "What do you mean?"

"See that flashing up there?" The guy nodded. "They know we're here. I can tell them to stand down."

The guy was getting shaky now. "Nice try. I know what you're trying to do. I am not getting arrested again."

The man started aggressively sailing back towards the boat.

Virgil tried again. "Listen I want to get back to that boat as much as you do but we have a lot of defences on the island." He proceeded carefully. "You could easily be snipered with a stun gun from this distance."

The guy stopped rowing and grabbed his knife angling it at Virgil, his eyes rapidly scanning the cliffs on the island.

"Hey, hey." Virgil soothed. "I don't want that to happen either. Let me call them and tell them to stand down."

"Your bloody EMP took out the phones moron."

"My watch." Virgil said calmly. "I can contact them through my watch."

Their watches were designed to withstand against Brains' modified EMP. The knife in the guys hand shook as he looked tensely between Virgil and the island.

"Turn around." The guy seethed finally.

Virgil did as instructed even though turning his back on an unstable guy with a knife raised a lot of warnings in his head. He felt guy fumbling with his watch trying to unclasp it from his wrist.

It came free and Virgil slowly turned back around to see the guy fiddling with it.

"Blue button." He supplied. "Direct link to the island."

"No secret messages alright."

Virgil nodded and the guy pressed the button, angling the watch face towards him.

"Vigil!" Scott's relieved voice came through as his hologram popped up. The guy flinched as it did so. "What's going on?"

Scott would already know what was going on. He knew they could see them so his brother was just approaching cautiously.

"Don't say anything Scott, just listen. Gordon and I were ambushed. I'm on a dingy close to the island while Gordon is still on the yacht." He took a breath. "Do not do anything. They have weapons and if I don't return to the boat they're going to kill Gordon."

He heard a low growl as Scott accepted the information. He continued quickly, desperate to get as much information as possible to his brother before the connection was cut.

"We'll be okay. All they want are photos of the island then they're going to let us go. Do not interfere. Okay Scott?"

"Virgil..." Scott replied with worry and scepticism lacing his voice.

"Please just trust me Scott. Do not engage. Okay?"

"Okay." Scott grunted. "Please be caref-"

The connection was cut suddenly as the guy apparently decided that was enough. He just as quickly threw the watch into the ocean. Virgil watched sadly as it sunk. Brains would not be happy.

"Can't have them listening." The guy supplied at Virgil's look.

The row back was a little less tense as the guy had apparently decided they were in the clear now.

He found himself anxious to get back to the boat. He was worried about Gordon.

When they arrived it was a relief to see Gordon in the exact same place he'd been earlier.

The captain was pacing with impatience and huffed. "You get them?"

"Yeah and even better, the Tracy's aren't gonna bother us."

The captain stiffened. "How'd you know that?"

"The commander himself promised not to do anything, we're in the clear."

"You met them?"

"Uh no, their watches are some sort of communication device. I threw this ones into the water after though."

"Dammit!" The guy seethed and stalked over to Gordon.

He didn't bother with instructions and elected instead to pull Gordon away from the side of the boat and onto his front again. Gordon grunted but didn't fight the rough treatment.

His watch was pulled off and the guy studied it before tossing it angrily into the ocean.

"They've probably been listening this whole damn time!"

He marched to the front of the boat while Virgil was shoved down next to Gordon, who was still trying to righten himself.

"You okay?" Gordon asked him quietly.

"Yeah. Spoke to Scott, they're going to steer clear for now."

Gordon nodded. He knew it was too risky if they tried anything right now as well.

The boat roared to life around them. The EMP must have worn off.

The captain came back round to the front.

"Looks like this is where we part ways boys." He turned to his friends. "Throw them overboard."

The guy Virgil had been in the boat with drew his knife, clearly intending to cut their hands free.

"No." The captain growled. "Leave them on."

The guy looked confused. "But they won't be able to swim."

The captain just laughed. "They're International Rescue. They'll manage."

Virgil felt his heart seize in his chest as he was pulled to his feet. Instinct caused him to pull back. "No. Please take the ties off, we won't follow you."

He was roughly pulled to the back of the boat along with Gordon.

"Virgil." He heard his brother say through the pounding in his ears. "Relax okay. We'll be fine."

Virgil didn't even have time to comprehend Gordon's words though as he was roughly shoved off the edge of the boat.

His body weight pulled him down deep as he hit the water. He'd barely managed to take a breath. His wrists were straining against the ties as he instinctively tried to swim up with his hands.

His legs were kicking frantically but he didn't feel like he was making any progress. And then Gordon was in the water with him.

It was dark but he could clearly make out Gordon's bright shirt and blonde hair. His brothers hand were tied as well though.

He blearily watched, lungs burning, as Gordon swam down underneath him.

He felt a pressure on his back as Gordon swam upwards all while pushing into him.

He managed to contribute some calmer kicks himself as he realised what his brother was doing. Of course Gordon could pull off an underwater rescue with his hands tied behind his back.

They broke through the surface and Virgil coughed and gasped sharply. Struggling to keep his head above the water level.

Gordon positioned himself behind him again.

"Lean on me Virgil. You're okay. Just catch your breath for a second."

Virgil took his brothers offer as he spluttered in the water once more. He lent back on Gordon's shoulder and let his brother support him for a minute.

"We're okay Virgil. You can do this, just don't panic."

Bit late for that one.

"Sorry." Virgil gasped, still not fully in control.

"It's okay. Just focus on breathing slowly."

Gordon's voice was very calming and Virgil recognised it as his IR voice. He felt a hint of embarrassment at his panic now he was starting to calm down.

He could make out the trespassers boat in the distance. They must have sped away as soon as they'd hit the water. His chest was considerably less tight now as he breathed more easily.

He took a deep shuddering breath and grunted. "Thanks Gords."

"We're going to have to start swimming back to the island." His brother said slowly.

"What about our boat?" Virgil tried to reason, seeing it bobbing not too far away.

"We'd never be able to get back on it with our hands tied." Gordon grunted, still doing most of the swimming for the both of them. "We don't know if the guys even know we're in the water so we can't wait for a rescue either, we'll have to start swimming."

"I don't know if I can Gordon." Virgil admitted quietly. He was honestly terrified right now.

"You can Virgil. We'll take it slow. Try floating on your back." Gordon suggested but didn't move out from under him. "Just lean back and kick you legs gently."

Virgil took a deep breath and did as instructed. He felt Gordon slip out from under him. He dipped under briefly but managed to pull himself back up again.

He gave light kicks to support himself and was glad it seemed to be working. It was still a highly unnatural position for swimming though.

"Good." Gordon said slipping under him again and giving him a break. "Now to swim, you're going to flip onto your front and give strong kicks. Keep your body at a 45 degree angle so you're able to kick up and forward simultaneously. Ready to try?"

"Yeah" Virgil gave his affirmative and moved into the position himself, feeling a bit more confident now.

Gordon came up next to him to demonstrate and they slowly but surely started making their way towards the island.

Virgil knew his brother probably could have done this twice as fast as they were going but Gordon was letting him set the pace and Virgil appreciated it.

They had maybe been swimming for 20 minutes when they saw a boat steering towards them. Virgil could have sung with relief. He desperately need to be on solid ground right now.

He saw the relief evident on Gordon's face as well as they sat back to paddle. The boat slowly drew up to them, it was one of their small dingy boats. He could see Scott and John peering over the side.

"You guys okay?" Scott shouted as he threw a floatation ring out to them.

Virgil was still trying to process how he was suppose to grab it when Gordon answered for him.

"All good Scott! But our hands are tied so we're going to need some help."

Of course Scott hadn't known their hands were tied. He thought to how much simpler this would've been if they hadn't been.

Luckily, since the boat was so low, Scott and John were able to lean over and pull him in. It wasn't exactly pretty as the side of the boat dug into his stomach and he flopped unceremoniously into the floor but he couldn't find it in himself to care. In fact he just lay there breathing heavily and enjoying the hard surface beneath him.

"Virg, you okay?" He heard Scott ask as his brother cut away the zip ties. He hissed slightly as he felt them pull away from his skin. They must've cut into him at some point.

"Yeah." He sighed as he slowly pulled his hands in front of him.

Scott was hovering. "Just stay still while I get Gordon."

At the mention of his younger brother Virgil managed to sit himself up and watch as Scott and John yanked Gordon over the side of the boat as well. Similarly to him, it was not a graceful process.

His brother lay on the deck while Scott cut off the zip ties using a small pen knife. He could see the gouges in Gordon's wrists as Scott slowly pulled them away. Stupid zip ties.

Gordon sat up, with some help from John while cradling his damaged wrists gently. Scott was rooting about in the storage bin and pulled out two towels and two bottles of water. He tossed a set of them at John for Gordon and brought the others over to him.

"Are you guys okay?" Scott asked for the third time as he wrapped the towel around his shoulders, apparently not convinced he'd received a proper answer yet.

"We're fine Scott." Virgil assured as he also accepted the water. "Just ready to get back to solid land." He tried to joke but it kind of fell flat as Gordon caught his eye and his cheeks flushed slightly as grimaced.

Suddenly he was being tackled into a hug though. "Don't scare me like that!" Scott said fiercely.

Virgil peered over his shoulder at Gordon getting a softer hug from John as quiet words were whispered. It kind of made the situation come crashing down around him.

They had been in so much danger. And practically in their own home as well.

When Scott pulled back, a fierce protective look in his eyes Virgil asked. "The boat? They have pictures."

Scott's face steeled. "Kayo's on it, they won't get far."

Virgil nodded and settled back, shivering slightly as he wrapped the towel more firmly around himself.

Later, after a hot shower and a change of clothes - and an extensive report given to Scott - they settled down in the late evening to finally cut the cake.

His wrists itched beneath the bandages that had been carefully applied. Gordon had the matching look with the addition of some stitches for the cut on his arm. It had been a bit more than a 'scratch', as he'd put it at the time.

There was still distraction in the air as Scott and John sat typing away on tablets, dealing with today's events and the GDF. EOS had tracked the boat as it fled from the island so Kayo hadn't had any problem catching up to it. With a GDF cruiser on hand for backup the men were taken into custody quickly.

There was also the concern of the anonymous individual who had put out the reward for information. It looked like they had a new enemy, a powerful one, and that had them all on edge.

They men on the boat really had been amateurs though, it shouldn't have turned into such a mess. There were already plans in place for protocols to be re-written and Gordon had voiced an interest in putting them all through drown-proofing training.

Scott has flashed him a look of concern at the implications involved in Gordon's request and Virgil knew his little brother must have divulged a little of his panic in the water.

Not that he blamed his brother, for International Rescue to work, everything had to be as transparent as possible. Keeping secrets caused accidents. That didn't mean he couldn't be slightly embarrassed by it though.

So, as Virgil sat with the offered knife ready to cut into the cake that had been specially ordered from the mainland, his head was heavy with responsibilities. There was a lot to do to ensure nothing like this happened again.

But for tonight, it was his birthday and he was going to cut his cake surrounded by his family.

_Fin._


End file.
